Close out the school year with a look back at a specific event. You provide individuals with photos of themselves, and each pupil fills out the graphic organizer here to prepare for writing a paragraph about the memory depicted in the...

When life brings you lemons .. write about it! Scholars work with partners to complete graphic organizers analyzing two narratives. Next, they develop an outline for their narrative writing assignment about a personal experience with...

Introduce expository writing with a unit that asks writers to craft an essay to explain a belief, value, or priority that is important to them. Mini-lessons within the unit focus on crafting thesis statements and conclusions, selecting...

Binoculars are used as a metaphor for good descriptive writing. Class members first view a small picture and then an enlarged view of the same image in which the details come into focus. Next, learners examine a paragraph lacking sensory...

Provide these templates as aids for pupils as they work to compose summaries of both stories and informational texts. The first two frames provide sentence starters to help learners structure their summaries and include all the necessary...

Are your learners working towards their GED? First they study the GED essay rubric, and then they read a sample essay as a group. After studying the basic elements, they write an essay of their own. After peer editing, they revise their...

Should schools continue to teach cursive writing? After reading and considering the merits of a series of arguments on both sides of this proposition, class members choose a side of the issue and craft their own argument, drawing support...

Students write a business letter with information regarding specific writing mechanics. In this writing lesson, students learn to write a business letter and they focus on one area of concern. Students follow a business letter...

Second graders use the writing process and create a silly story.  In this silly story lesson, 2nd graders will review person, event and setting and complete a chart for each.  Students will put a person, event and setting...

Walk young writers through the process of creating an initial writing sample for their portfolio. They determine their purpose, organize their ideas, and then create a draft. The lesson includes worksheets and online resources to...

Support your learners during the speech-writing process with a five-page graphic organizer. Pupils have plenty of space to write in their evidence and arguments on this resource. The organizer provides some prompts for each section to...

How do writers engage their readers in a story? Pupils consider the question and use the informational text, "The Hero's Journey" to justify their plan for their own fictional narrative. To that end, scholars write an explanatory...

Look back at the third chapter of The Cay with your class. Pupils will conduct a close reading, taking a second look at a chunk of text and responding to a series of text-dependent questions. Wrap up with an analytical writing prompt...

Despite the slightly off-putting title, the instructions and activities detailed in these project guidelines for researching a noteworthy figure will serve as a fantastic supplement to your next famous person research...

A three-part assessment tests scholars' reading and writing capabilities. Young readers listen to and read an excerpt from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. After drawing pictures of what is memorable, learners discuss...

Who am I? Pupils work to answer this question through a unit that explores personal narratives and identity. Exit tickets for activities that examine different poems, short stories, and autobiographical writing serve as prewriting for...

What is the best way to compare and contrast viewpoints on the same topic? A persuasive writing unit plan addresses targeted skills, vocabulary, instructional strategies, and suggested resources that would be perfect for developing writers.

Student explain how geographic and cultural settings influence a person's identity. They compare and contrasting Esmeralda Santiago's Puerto Rican self with her American self by participating in a close reading of the text and writing a...

Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...

Incorporate sensory details into a piece of descriptive writing. First, elementary and middle schoolers improve a piece of writing by using precise, vivid language, as well as appropriate word choice. They then listen to a variety of...

Car For sale! In this GED prep lesson, writers develop a classified advertisement to sell a car. After a discussion of precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language, sellers draft their ad for review, revision and...

Letter writing may be outdated but it's a great way to practice English conventions, grammar, and spelling. The class researches consumer scams, then writes a letter about them. They each choose a scam to write about paying close...

Read a Hans Wilhelm story and complete creative writing activities. Start by reading Tyrone, the Horrible and discuss the behavior in the book. Then split your class into groups to create a "bully" situation and discuss possible...

These short sentences will give your budding writers practice printing whole words and leaving space between them. They copy two short sentences and are instructed to leave a finger space between words. Learners illustrate the first...